Federal Transportation Funds: The federal funding bill for highway and transit projects is due to expire Sept. 1. Steve Schlickman, director of the UIC Urban Transportation Center, says Illinois’ six-year capital program relies on 81 percent federal funding. He can comment on gas or other new taxes needed to address the deficit. Contact Anne Brooks Ranallo, (312) 355-2523; aranallo@uic.edu

Unionizing College Sports: Robert Bruno, professor and director, Labor Education Program (Chicago), says the ruling that Northwestern football players are employees and can unionize reflects the reality that big-time college sports is an enormously profitable business. “It’s time the law and their employers respected them as workers,” Bruno says. Contact Jeffron Boynés, (312) 413-8702; jboynes@uic.edu